


You're Not Fine

by themagnificentquack



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Green Arrow and the Canaries (TV)
Genre: Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, First Kiss, Laurel is sad because i guess that's just my brand now, they're in love, very much un beta'd but if that bothers u just wait and i'll get around to fixing it in a few days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25681375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themagnificentquack/pseuds/themagnificentquack
Summary: mia makes a comment that upsets laurel, dinah and laurel chat (THEY ARE IN LOVE. PERIOD.)
Relationships: Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance
Comments: 10
Kudos: 54





	You're Not Fine

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: laurel punches the wall in a way that has elements of self-harm. self-harm is not something that she struggles with in this fic, and it is a single moment born out of frustration, but if that's something that really triggers u, i would recommend skipping this one.

"I'm sorry Mia, but J.J. is a bad guy," Laurel said emphatically.

All of the evidence was pointing towards him but Mia wasn't believing a word of it, and the more Laurel brought it up, the angrier she got. Finally, she snapped, "You wouldn't know would you? No one's ever been stupid enough to fall in love with you!"

She regretted it the second it came out of her mouth. "I'm so sorry," she said immediately. "You know I didn't mean that."

Laurel's face clouded up as the shock dissipated. Mia expected her to be angry, but her voice was carefully devoid of emotion when she said, "I've been with a lot of people who wanted me to be someone I'm not. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did."

Then she turned and walked away, concealing her face from Mia, and Dinah who was sitting beside her.

"Where are you going?" Mia called.

"To hit something," Laurel replied shortly, turning right to head for the training room.

"I'll talk to her," Dinah whispered to Mia.

Laurel took deep breaths as she wound the tape between her fingers, finding comfort in the repetitive motion.

Dinah walked up but didn't go into the room, instead leaning against the door frame. "You okay?" she asked.

"Fine," Laurel replied, turning away to attack the punching bag.

It was clear that Laurel thought the conversation was over, but Dinah knew that as much as Laurel hated talking about her feelings, she didn't actually want to keep her walls up. She just needed help taking them down.

Dinah walked in to hold the bag steady for her, unwilling to back down so soon.

"Mia has no idea what she's talking about, you know that."

"She's not wrong," Laurel mumbled in between punches.

"Of course she is," Dinah insisted. "Oliver loved you, I know at least that much."

Laurel rolled her eyes. "If you're in love with someone you don't fuck their sister. You just don't."

Dinah scrambled for an answer, expecting to have to push Laurel for more.

She was beyond shocked to see emotion in Laurel's eyes when she said, "When you love someone, you don't hurt them like that. Like..."

Dinah was close enough to see the horror on Laurel's face as she stumbled back. "I'm worse than he was," she said, her eyes unfocused.

"No, no, no," she said under her breath, turning away from Dinah once again.

Her mumbling got increasingly louder and Dinah stepped forward to stop the escalation, but before she could do anything, Laurel drew back and punched the wall, full force.

Dinah came in from behind and wrapped her arms around her, dragging her away from the wall. Laurel fought the embrace almost instinctively, but all of the aggression drained out of her when Dinah whispered, "Laur, stop," into her ear.

She maneuvered them onto the floor with Laurel sitting in between her legs, tense as a board.

Dinah's arms were still around her. It wasn't necessary at this point, but Dinah wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. And much more importantly, Laurel seemed in need of some comfort.

Mia rushed in, having heard the commotion. "I'll get the first aid kit," she said, seeing Laurel's bloody knuckles.

"Can I see you hand?" Dinah asked quietly.

"It's fine," Laurel replied tiredly.

"I just want to take a look. Make sure you're okay," Dinah said.

Laurel mumbled her complaints, but acquiesced, turning to face her.

She refrained from making eye contact as Dinah unwound the tape as gently as possible, choosing instead to stare at the floor.

Mia came back with the kit and Dinah began every so carefully cleaning her split knuckles with a wet cloth. No one spoke as she dabbed disinfectant on the cuts, kissing Laurel's hand gently when she was done.

Laurel tensed up slightly at the action, but she didn't look up.

Dinah nodded at Mia, indicating that she should leave the room. Mia walked away quietly, leaving them alone.

"What did you mean when you said you're worse than he was?" Dinah asked.

Laurel sighed. "It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it."

"I can't help it Laur. I care about you," Dinah replied sincerely.

She rested her hand gently on Laurel's jaw, prompting her to look up. The self loathing in her eyes broke Dinah's heart. "Talk to me," she pleaded.

"I just... I hurt someone I love, a lot worse than Oliver hurt me. And it made me think that I was the problem all along. Obviously I already knew that, I'm not an idiot, but-"

Dinah cut in, unable to hear anymore. "You are not a problem Laurel."

"Look it's really fine. You don't have to try to comfort me. Some people are just unlovable, I made my peace with that a long time ago," Laurel said. Her voice was matter of fact, like she wasn't every syllable wasn't killing Dinah.

She held Laurel's face in her hands gently, worried that she'd be slapped away any second now.

"You are not unlovable," she said, staring into Laurel's eyes.

Laurel scoffed in response. "And how would you know that?" she asked.

"Because I love you," Dinah replied simply.

Laurel turned away, dislodging Dinah's hands. Tears clouded her vision. "Don't say that. Don't you dare say that if you don't mean it," she said, her voice thick with unshed tears.

Dinah placed her hand against Laurel's clenched fist. "Of course I mean it," she said quietly. "I love you."

Laurel's well of emotions finally overflowed and she let out a sob, leaning in to cry on Dinah's shoulder.

Laurel's tear stained face made Dinah want to cry too, because Laurel deserved all the love in the world.

She pulled Laurel close and collapsed in her arms and they sat on the gym floor together, crying until they ran out of tears.

Once they were all cried out, they leaned against the wall together, not saying a word.

Dinah turned to Laurel and offered a tried smile, and Laurel couldn't help but smile back.

"So who is the person you love?" Dinah asked cheekily.

The smile dropped right off Laurel's face. She looked down at her hands. "You already know who it is," she mumbled.

"Yeah, but I want to hear you say it," Dinah said, still smiling.

"I love you," Laurel said quietly, still staring at her hands. She didn't look up, too scared to see Dinah's expression.

Sensing her mood, Dinah gently lifted Laurel's face to meet her eyes with a hand underneath her jaw and said, "I love you too."

Then, praying she wasn't misreading the situation, she leaned in slowly until their lips were centimeters apart. Butterflies flew frenzied circles in her stomach and she felt the energy in the air as she carefully fit their lips together.

And Laurel kissed her back.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she reached out out pull Laurel closer, to tell her what 'I love you' could mean when it was real.

And Laurel said it back.


End file.
